March 15, 2013
| Watch Live ($) | Season Statistics | Men's Gymnastics Blog
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- It will be the final home meet for seven members of the top-ranked Penn State men's gymnastics team and what a way to end your regular season home schedule. The No. 1 Nittany Lions will host No. 2 Michigan at 7 p.m. on Saturday (March 16) inside historic Rec Hall in a double-dual with the women's squad, who host Kentucky.
VIDEO: No. 1 Men's Gymnastics Readies for No. 2 Michigan
After a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico last week to compete against members of the Puerto Rican National Team, the Nittany Lions return home to honor their seven seniors in the final regular season home meet. Seniors Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel), Tony Beck (Carasauqua, Pa.), Matt Chelberg (Athens, Ohio), Mackenzie Dow (Cranford, N.J.), Nihir Kothari (Malvern, Pa.), Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.) and Scott Rosenthal (Clearfield, Pa.) will all compete in front of the home crowd in their last scheduled meet at Rec Hall.
This senior class is a major reason that the Lions are atop the national standings in team score (447.083) and own the top team mark on four of the six apparatus in the NCAA this season. Penn State has the nation's leading three-score average on the pommel horse (74.900), still rings (76.633), vault (74.683) and high bar (75.467). They rank second nationally on the parallel bars (74.150) and are fifth on the floor (74.400), as well.
Last weekend's victory over Puerto Rico did not count towards the team and individual NCAA rankings, but did provide the team an opportunity to gain some much needed experience in front of a raucous crowd against a formidable opponent. The team scored ended in favor of Penn State, 421.250-414.050, while Matthew Felleman (Medway, Mass.) and Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio) each collected individual victories, winning the high bar and vault, respectively.
Aronovich and Howard will get to see another of the top all-arounders in the country when they square off with Adrian de los Angeles of Michigan this weekend. The Wolverine sophomore currently ranks second nationally in the all-around with an average score of 88.683, while Aronovich ranks third with an 87.950 average. Howard has competed in two all-arounds this season, with a minimum of three to qualify for a national ranking, but has an average score of 87.200, which includes a career-best score of 88.250 vs. Ohio State.
One event that is sure to be entertaining on Saturday when the two team's tangle will be the parallel bars. Howard has won the event on in each of his last three competitions and currently ranks third nationally with a three-meet average of 15.317 and Aronovich sits fifth with an average tally of 15.250 for Penn State. On the Michigan roster, Sam Mikulak and Syque Caesar own the top two spots in the NCAA rankings on the event. Mikulak heads the rankings with an average score of 15.433 and Caesar sits just behind with an average of 15.367 on the event.
Penn State continues to pepper the top-ten of the national rankings on the high bar, with six of the top-ten spots on the apparatus being held by a Nittany Lion. The top two spots are owned by Wasef Burbar and Matt Felleman, respectively, while Dow sits fourth, Aronovich is sixth and Raque sits tied for ninth. Burbar posted the fourth highest score in NCAA history earlier this season when he flew to a 16.000 mark vs. Springfield College and owns a three-score average score of 15.717. Felleman's average sits at 15.483, Dow's at 15.100, Aronovhich's is 15.050 and Raque's stands at 14.917.
The Nittany Lions and Wolverines will take to the mat at 7 p.m. for their dual meet, with the senior recognition following the competition.
--NITTANY LIONS--